Overview
Ryan K. Masters is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research focuses on social and demographic determinants of U.S. adult mortality, with particular expertise in age-period-cohort (APC) methodology, racial/ethnic mortality disparities, and the deaths of despair phenomenon.
Key Contributions / Features
- Long-term black-white mortality trends (Masters, Hummer et al. 2014): Lead author of APC analysis showing that chronic disease mortality changes 1959–2009 are primarily cohort-based; post-WWII cohort-based narrowing of black-white gap confirmed; troubling stalling in heart disease and widening breast cancer disparity documented.
- COVID-19 and life expectancy (Woolf, Masters, and Aron 2021, BMJ): Simulated provisional mortality data showing the pandemic's differential life expectancy impact across U.S. racial groups and international comparisons.
- Deaths of despair among white Americans (Masters, Tilstra, and Simon 2018): Documented and explained recent mortality increases among younger and middle-aged white Americans.
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